By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
David Schieferle, who spent 20 years as a U.S. Air Marshal, served eight months behind bars in the Miami Federal Detention Center – which he described as a “hellhole” – 10 months on home confinement wearing an electronic ankle monitor, is currently on probation for the next two-and-a-half years.
Yet, he’s still willing to risk even more time behind bars through a new trial by claiming his first attorney was incompetent and that he never broke any law.
“The ATF is really screwing over law abiding Americans. The ATF screwed me over,” he told the Second Amendment Foundation this week. “What HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) and the ATF did to me was wrong. Every ATF person involved in my case seemed evil.”
Schieferle’s life-altering saga began in December 2020, when he was called into the Federal Air Marshal’s office on his day off to be interrogated. Little did he know that the ATF and other federal agencies had dozens of agents positioned in cars, ATVs and even a helicopter, who were awaiting a “go” order to invade his five-acre organic farmstead and home.
“The day of the raid they called me into the office,” Schieferle said. “I didn’t know why until they asked me if I have ever bought a silencer. I told them no. They wanted to interrogate me. I told them I wanted to talk to my lawyer first. I called my wife who said there were already agents there.”
Little did he know, this was Operation Silent Night.
This operation began in 2019, and according to ICE and Homeland Security Investigations, was a “global” operation responsible for seizing 42,888 Chinese silencers, 4,868 weapons and charging more than 200 people.
To be clear, Schieferle had never purchased a silencer, but he had spent hundreds of dollars on the Chinese website, which investigators claimed offered silencers and possible silencers before the federal crackdown. The site’s incredibly low prices, not its silencers, first attracted Schieferle.
“I bought an air compressor, filters and filter media from them,” he said. “Their prices were lower than Amazon.”
Schieferle said he needed a lot of gear and equipment to operate his organic farm. He needed filters for fuel, water and more. He had tanks of fuel and water, and much of his fuel system and watering system was homemade and self-produced.
“I saw a new type of tube and I bought a bunch of them for future farm projects,” he explained. “I wanted to use them to filter solvents or fuel. I bought a dozen of them for that. I’ve also bought laser pointers and one carbon fiber air tank.”
The HIS told Schieferle there was a search warrant taking place at his home but gave him no idea of its scope or size. He offered to cook up a barbecue lunch for the agents, who let him drive home. His mood changed when he drove onto his property.
The ATF and HSI sent a 24-agent entry team, who hit his home hard. Most of the exterior doors and much glass from pictures and picture frames was broken. His wife and four children were paraded out of the house before the agents busted down the doors.
“They knew I wasn’t there, but the government likes to overdo it so they can justify you looking more dangerous later in trial,” Schieferle said.
The agents threatened to break open his gun safes, which Schieferle quickly opened. After all, he had nothing to hide. His wife had been cooking a ham until the agents turned off the stove. There were two female ATF agents inside when Schieferle got there.
“The ATF girls were unprofessional. They were holding our wedding vows, laughing and giggling,” he said. “Everyone else except those two ATF girls was professional.”
When the ATF left, they had one tube in a box that Schieferle hadn’t opened.
The trial
Schieferle, 55, was indicted in March 2021. He was charged with the illegal importation of a firearms and for illegal possession of a firearm, for a tube that he hadn’t even opened. He was facing up to 20 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.
“They were excited because I own my house,” he said.
Schieferle lost his Top-Secret security clearance once he was indicted, so he had to retire as an Air Marshal. He had to pay his personal attorney $25,000 to handle the indictment and another $25,000 if they went to trial. Expert witnesses were $30,000 each.
From the start, Schieferle had his attorney filing motions. The tube, or inline filter, he discovered, had been sold online for more than 10 years.
“We filed a motion to suppress on the search warrant. They had five lawyers there who wouldn’t even address our issues,” he said. “They would never address that the inline filter wasn’t a silencer. I actually never thought we were going to trial. I believed they were going to drop the case because there was no actual evidence.”
Schieferle’s attorney strongly insisted that he accept an offer from the State, which required him to take a gun course and enter mitigation, but they had already destroyed his career.
“For three months we talked about taking a deal, but I never thought I could be found guilty,” Schieferle said. “I needed to show what that HSI and ATF had done. Everybody else took a deal. Finally, my attorney makes me sign this letter saying we were going forward against his judgement, and we started getting ready for trial.”
Schieferle said he actually believed the trial would stop any second because the evidence presented against him was so outrageous.
“There was this photo of three-dozen guns the agents had placed on a bed. Some were air rifles. Half of the jury convicted me because I own a lot of guns, which were for my family. They kept that picture up for hours until the judge told them the guns were legal, and they needed to take it down,” he said.
Schieferle even started to develop bad feeling about his defense attorney.
“My lawyer did exactly the opposite of what I wanted him to say, so I stood up and said I’ve got to represent myself,” he said. “The judge cleared the courtroom, and I told her it was not the evidence I wanted presented.
My attorney didn’t even object when they called the tube a silencer. He never even questioned it was a silencer. That’s messed up. My attorney just said the judge would never accept it. Looking back, I should have raised my hand much earlier.”
The verdict
Schieferle never testified during his trial. He said his attorney would not allow his wife or their children in the courtroom when the jury delivered its verdict.
“Don’t say anything to offend the judge,” he recalls his attorney telling him before the verdict was read.
“As an Air Marshal, I flew more than 6 million miles with weapons on me and never violated anything,” Schieferle recalled thinking.
The judge announced that the jury had found Schieferle guilty on all counts.
Schieferle was sentenced to eight months in a federal prison, which turned out to be the Miami Federal Detention Center. He received 10 months of home confinement, during which he had to wear an ankle monitor, followed by three years of probation. He was given three days to get his farm in order before turning himself in.
He said the Miami FDC was “hellish.” He spent his first week in solitary – the SHU – because he was a former law enforcement officer.
“The first day they let me out of the SHU there was a stabbing. The facility is falling apart. It makes you want to deal,” he said.
When he returned home eight months later, he said there were weeds 20-feet high.
“I started cleaning up the farm and was able to fix some of the stuff they broke,” he said. “I feel betrayed by the government.”
Legally, he is running out of options. An appeal was denied, and he lost his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Legally, now I can attack my lawyer – an ineffective counselor,” he said. “I wanted it to be a Second Amendment issue but was told I was being arrogant. He wouldn’t let me show my previous purchases from the site.”
Effects
Schieferle’s father died several months into his prosecution.
“My parents never had any problems, but now everyone thinks I am a dirty cop,” he said. “I had a great career. To have this come up is outrageous. We have neighbors who don’t let their kids play with my kids because we had an army here a couple years ago.”
Today, Schieferle and his family run Redland Farm, a live pastured, certified organic farm that offers Kune pigs, coconuts, Noni, Moringa and Longan during harvest.
Schieferle wants everyone to know he’s a tinkerer who bought the tubes in case they were ever needed. Running his organic farm has turned him into somewhat of a high volume or bulk buyer.
“I had numerous uses for them,” he said. “I could have used them to filter water or oil – anytime I see a new tool I will buy a few. If I see something I don’t have, I will buy it. I’ve got a pile of a couple thousand concrete blocks that I’ll use someday, if I can find a use for them.”
Said Schieferle: “If I had to venture my best guess at what happened during my trial, the ATF reluctantly admitted the tubes were legal. The problem was the DOJ was allowed to convince a clueless jury that I intended to use or convert the tubes into illegal silencers. The DOJ won this trial by using innocent gun data on my hard drives and by not allowing me to present to the jury any evidence nor my expert witness to give his full testimony. I never did anything illegal, and I never took one step or thought to convert anything into a silencer.”
The ATF did not respond to calls or emails seeking their comments for this story.
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